…Forces Them To Pay $40(N12,600) To Sleep In The Terminal
…As Airline Says It is Not Responsible For Their Accommodation
Turkish Airlines, one of the airlines known for providing passengers unsatisfactory treatment has left pupils, students and instructors of Glisten International College, Abuja numbering 22 stranded in Atatürk Airport, Istanbul, Turkey.
The pupils, students and instructors are stranded and abandoned because Turkey Airlines that was to airlift them back to Nigeria as scheduled was not able to do so.
Abelnewsng.com learnt that the students who were between the ages of 11and 14 were forced to sleep at the resting area of the airport terminal over night.
The airline it was gathered was only able to provide the students with blankets provided instead of taken them to a hotel.
The Nigerian students had gone to United States to represent Nigeria in a competition few weeks ago.
As if sleeping on the terminal was not bad enough, the students were compelled to pay $40(N12,600) each, which amounts to $880 before they could be allowed to sleep in the frozen condition at the airport.
A source close to the school, who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the pathetic situation, stated that the team had boarded Turkish Airlines flight from Abuja, Nigeria to the United States with a stopover at Istanbul Airport.
The source explained that the students’ problem started during the return leg flight from United States-Istanbul-Abuja.
It was further gathered by the online platform that the flight from US — Istanbul was delayed for an hour by Turkish Airlines and that as at the time the flight eventually departed US and arrived at Istanbul for the connecting flight, airline’s flight from Istanbul to Abuja flight had already departed.
The source further explained that when the team that took the students to the United States contacted the airline in Turkey for a better accommodation, the airline declined.
The source added that they could not be responsible for their accommodation despite the fact that they were not responsible for missing the flight.
The source said that the students had been responsible for their feeding and other expenses.
“Our pupils, students and instructors went to the US to represent Nigeria and were supposed to return on Monday, but missed the leg to Nigeria because the flight from US, which is equally Turkish Airlines delayed their flight for an hour and by the time we got to Istanbul, the flight to Abuja had already departed. When that happened, we approached them for accommodation for our team, but the airline said they won’t be responsible for accommodation or feeding of our team. Rather, we were told to sleep at the resting room of the terminal and we had to pay from our purse, which negates the international standards.” The source said
The source continued, “These are children between the ages of 11 and 15 years and are exposed to this harsh treatment. Could they have done that with their own citizens? Or, will they allow any Nigerian carrier to do that to their citizens in Nigeria? I am begging our government to take up this challenge because these kids went to represent Nigeria in the US.”
Attempts by Abelnewsng.com to reach the Turkish Airlines in Nigeria proved abortive.
